Welcome to part two of phrasal verbs.
In this lesson, we will focus on problems with phrasal verbs.
But what makes using phrasal verbs so troublesome?
Well, there are a few things that can make phrasal verbs difficult.
One reason is the transitive and intransitive confusion, which goes with the separable and inseparable uses.
But phrasal verbs are also hard because they have multiple meanings and are very idiomatic.
Remember from the review lesson, transitive means a verb, an adverb, or preposition need to be followed by a direct object.
Intransitive means you don't need a direct object, and in fact, this is an error if you add a direct object.
For example, for transitive verbs we can say, the teacher called on the sleeping student.
And the police are looking into the crime.
And some examples with intransitive verbs include, we often eat out and he was too tired to get up.
It's important with transitive phrasal verbs, you have the direct object.
Not having a direct object is a mistake you need to avoid with phrasal verbs.
Within intransitive phrasal verbs, for example, we often eat out.
And he was too tired to get up. If we add a direct object to these types of verbs, that's a mistake.
If you're not sure about which verb is transitive or intransitive, check a good learner's dictionary.
These will include notes about transitive or intransitive status of phrasal verbs.
Good learner dictionaries will include notes about separable or inseparable status, inseparable in this example.
In fact, some dictionaries will only state separable or inseparable and you need to remember.
Only transitive phrasal verbs can be separable or inseparable.
Separable means that the adverb or preposition can be followed by the direct object, or
the direct object can be after the verb and before the adverb or preposition.
So in the example of blow up, it is a separable phrasal verb and can be used in a few ways.
The army blew up the mine.
The army blew the mine up.
Or the army blew it up.
And some phrasal verbs must be separated.
They follow three patterns.
The first is verb plus direct object, plus adverb.
Like to ask someone back, meaning to invite someone to return for a visit.
Or to have something on, meaning to wear clothing.
Another pattern is verb plus direct object plus preposition plus the object to go with the preposition.
For example, leaving someone for something, meaning abandon someone for a reason.
And run something by someone, meaning share an idea with someone.
The third pattern is verb plus direct object plus adverb plus preposition and lastly, another direct object.
So we end up with a long expression, like make it up to someone.
Meaning, you make a mistake and promise to fix it.
Or, pass something off as something else.
Meaning, to say something fake, like a purse, is real.
Here are some sample sentences with our separable phrasal verb patterns.
We asked back the professor who lectured about global warming.
He ran a new design by his boss for her approval.
Since he missed her birthday, he made it up to her by taking her for a weekend to San Francisco.
Another problem for English learners is that phrasal verbs often have more than one meaning.
But how can you know which meaning is used?
Let's take, for example, take out, which can mean borrow a library book or go on a date with someone.
For instance, I need to take out a book about geology for my research paper.
Or Jack wanted to take Sally out on a date, but she said no.
How can you know which meaning of take out is used?
You look at the context or situation of the sentence.
From the first sentence, it's clear we are talking about a book.
In the second, we can see between a man and a woman going on a date.
We're using the second meaning.
The last and maybe biggest reason phrasal verbs are hard, is that they are very idiomatic.
That means that the parts don't add up to the meaning.
These types of idiomatic expressions are natural for native English speakers, and make them very difficult to teach.
Let's look at turn, which usually means a to twist a knob left or right.
The adverb, off, means to separate or remove but the preposition on, means physically in contact with and supported by something.
If we put the parts together, turn and off, doesn't seem to add up to turn off,
meaning to switch off something electronic like a computer or TV.
And turn on doesn't add up to meaning to switch on something electronic like a computer or TV.
Some phrasal verbs can be hard because we cannot guess the meaning of the phrasal verb by knowing the parts.
You need to learn and study these words in groups.
How can you study phrasal verbs?
Treat them more like vocabulary words and study them in groups.
You can learn them by focusing on a verb such as get, and learn the meaning of adverbs or a preposition combinations.
For example, get out means be forced to leave.
Get up means to wake up and get out of bed.
Get in means to step inside a vehicle like a car.
Or get with, meaning to meet someone.
Another way to study groups is to focus on the adverb or preposition, and the combinations of verbs.
So you can focus on out, and speak out means to argue against an idea.
Take out means borrow a library book or go on a date with someone.
Get out means to be forced to leave.
Walk out means to leave in anger.
Lastly, turn out can mean to eject or banish.
In this lesson, you learned phrasal verbs are difficult because they could be transitive or intransitive, separable or inseparable.
They have multiple meanings and those meanings can be idiomatic.
Thanks for listening.
